The Life of the Ancient Greeks and Romans. By E.
Guhl and W. Koner. Translated by E. Hueffer. (Chapman and Hall.)—This work has been put together with the industry and care characteristic of a German authorship. It is a question how information of the kind here given may be most conveniently and usefully conveyed. Bekker's well- known works assume the narrative form, but the slender thread of the story is lost in the mass of facts with which it is illustrated. Where, on the other hand, the story is made more prominent, as in Lockhart's admirable tale of " Valerius," the book becomes practically useless for the purposes of the student. Of coarse there are others besides the student to be considered, and we cannot help thinking that if the learned authors of the volume before us had employed something more of literary skill in arranging their rich store of materials, their labour would not have been ill bestowed. As it is, however, the book, which the translator has judiciously abridged, is more than a mere book of reference. Though it might have been made more entertaining, it is certainly readable, and its value to the scholar is beyond all ques- tion. The volume is divided into two parts, devoted severally to Greek and Roman life. The Temple, the House, the Grave, are successively described in detail. After sections devoted to public buildings and places, we come to an elaborate account of furniture, crockery, lamps, dress, tte. Games are described in detail ; many readers will find, with some surprise, that their own favourite amusements were, more or less, closely anticipated by the ancients. We are not sure, indeed, whether the ingenious persons who purvey to the entertainment of this genera- tion might not get some hints in this quarter. It is part of the plan of the work that the life which is its subject should be "described from antique monuments." Hence we have a number of illustrations, which adorn and explain the text in a very satisfactory manner.
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